Bridal gowns



Nov. 20, 1962 v. A. NANIA, JR

BRIDAL GOWNS Filed Dec. 19, 1960 INVENTOR.

VINCENT A. NANIA, JR.

ATTORNEY Eflfidihfi Fatented Nov. 20, 1952 tie 3,661,268 ESPEDAL GQWNS Vincent A. Nania, 51"., Sunset Hills, Mo, assignmto hridal Griginals, St. Louis, Me, a corporation of Misseuri Filed Dec. 19, 3960, Ser. No. 76,925 3 (Ilaims. (Cl. 2217) This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in bridal gowns and, more particularly, to a dress which may be quickly and conveniently converted from a gown having a bridal train into a party dress having a pouf-bustle.

Bridal gowns usually have a long train which trails along the floor or carpet as the bride approaches the altar. Such gowns, however, cannot thereafter be worn for other purposes and, consequently, a girl, after her wedding, must put her bridal gown away solely as a keepsake or heirloom, or must undertake the rather expensive alternative of having the gown remodeled by a dressmaker.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a bridal gown :which can be readily converted into a party dress of general utility.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a dress of the type stated in which the train can be quickly and conveniently drawn up into a pouf-bustle thereby immediately and simply converting the dress from a singleuse garment to one having general utility.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a garment of the type stated where the train can be drawn to floor length and the excess material formed into a pouf-bustle without requiring the dress to be removed frorn the wearer.

In the accompanying drawing FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bridal gown constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention, the garment being shown with the train fully extended for use as a bridal gown.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bridal gown adjusted to waltz floor length with the train of the gown drawn up into a pouf-bustle;

PEG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawing, which illustrates a practical embodiment of the present invention, A designates a bridal gown comprising a bodice l and a skirt portion 2 preferably having an outer skirt 3 and a plurality of underskirts 4. 5, all mutually attached at a waistline seam 6 and extending downwardly therefrom. The underskirts 4, S are usually of a net or crinoline material that give bouffance to the gown and there may be two, as shown, or more if desired. Frequently, the intermediate underskirt 4 is made of some type of taffeta or satin material.

The outerskirt 3 and underskirts 4, 5 are stitched together vertically in a common seam 7 which extends up the rear of the garment and also include separate fiat seams 8, 8', 9, 9'. 10, 10'. The seams 8, 9. 1% are secured together by tack-stitching s s and, similarly, the seams 8'. 9, 1% are secured together by tack-stitching s s The bodice l and skirt 2 are conventionally secured together by a waistline seam l1, and secured within this waistline seam ll at uniformly spaced intervals across the back portion of the bridal gown A are three depending lengths of flexible tape 12, 13, 14, which are respectively provided on their inwardly presented faces with snap fastener elements 15, 16, and 17. As shown in FIG. 7, these snap fastener elements are preferably molded from synthetic resin and each consists of a rectilinear base plate 18 with three longitudinally extending rows of sh; upstanding round-headed buttons 19. Sewn or otherwise securely attached to the inside faces of the seams 7, 10, and10' are matching snap fastener elements 20, 21, 22, each of which is also preferably molded from a synthetic resin and consists of a rectilinear base plate 23 having eighteen holes or recesses 24 of such size and location as to mate with the buttons 19 and retentively engage them when two such matching fastener elements are pressed together. The snap fastener elements 20, 21, 22 are located downwardly below the matching snap fastener elements 15, 16, and 17 by a distance substantially equal to the extra length of the rear or train-forming portion of the skirt 2.

Thus, when the bridal gown A is being used as a bridal gown prior to or during the wedding ceremony and wedding reception, the several snap fastener elements 15, 16, 17, and 29, 21, 22 are disengaged from each other and the tabs l2, 13, 14 hang freely on the inside face of the skirt 2 at the rear thereof, substantially as shown in FIG. 2. The gown will then have a long flowing train substantially as shown in FIG. 1.

After the wedding festivities are over and the bridal gown A has fulfilled its initial and primary functions, it may be quickly and easily converted into a party dress by pulling up the lower set of fastener elements 20, 21, 22 and engaging them respectively with the tape-supported fastener elements 15, 16, and 17. When this is done, the extra length of the rear or train-forming portion of the skirt 2 will be pulled up into a pouf-bustle as shown in FIG. 5, and the hem of the garment will be held uniformly at ankle length around its entire periphery, substantially as shown in FIG. 6. The lines of tack-stitching s s s and serve to hold the outer skirt 3 and the underskirts 4, 5 as a unit in supported relation through engagement between the snap fastener elements 15, l6, l7, and 20, 21, 22. Actually, as soon as the folds of the underskirts 4, 5 are caught up within the pouf-bustle, no great amount of strain is placed upon the lines of tackstitching s s s and s*.

The convertibility of the bridal gown A is specifically useful and of value to the user in two respects. In the first place, after a wedding ceremony has been completed it is customary for the bridal party to attend a reception in the same garments which were worn during the ceremony, and, consequently, the bride is considerably hampered in her movements by the length of the train forming a part of her bridal gown, and usually the bride will meet this problem by catching up the folds at the rear portion of the hem of her gown and throwing them over one arm. This, of course, is uncomfortable and even somewhat unsightly. At wedding receptions where dancing occurs, it is particularly curnbersome for the bride to dance while carrying the bulk of her train over one arm. The bridal gown A constructed in accordance with the present invention obviates these diificulties inasmuch as the bride can retire momentarily to the privacy of a dressing room or powder room and very quickly pull the train of the bridal gown A up into a pouf-bustle in the manner above described, and thereby be relieved of all problems connected with a trailing train during the subsequent wedding reception and other festivities.

As has been above indicated, the second important aspect of the value inherent in the present invention resides in the fact that after the occasion of the wedding has entirely passed, the bridal gown A can be used many times as a party dress by the same expedient of pulling up the excess material, which is used to form the train,

and fastening it in the manner above described so as to form a pouf-bustle.

It will, of course, be immediately apparent that the present invention is not only applicable to bridal gowns, but is also applicable to other types of dresses which can be Worn on other occasions Where a train or similar type of skirt having extra fullness in the rear might be required or desirable. in the case of such dresses, the utility of the garment can be greatly increased by incorporating the present invention in such a manner that the extra fullness in the skirt could be allowed to hang free or be fastened up in the form of a pout-bustle as the needs of the case might require.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the bridal gown may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A ladys outer garment, such as a ball gown, bridal dress, or the like, comprising a skirt having an outer skirt and a plurality of underskirts mutually attached at the waistline and being free of each other below the waistline across the front of the garment so as to present an appearance of fullness, said outer skirt and underskirts being substantially longer from waistline to hem across the rear of the garment than across the front of the garment so as to normally present the appearance of a rearwardly flowing train, said underskirts and outer skirt being stitched together along the rear verticalcenterline for a substantial distance downwardly from the waistline in a single common seam which secures the outer skirt and underskirts unitarily together in the region of such seam, said underskirts and outer skirt also being loosely secured together along approximately vertical lines extending downwardly for a substantial distance from the waistline, said vertical lines being spaced symmetrically on opposite sides of said vertical centerline across the rear of the garment, free swinging fastening means secured to the interior of the skirt at the waistline across the rear of the garment, said fastening means including downwardly extending fastener elements respectively aligned with the common seam and the vertical-lines along which the outer skirt and underskirts are loosely secured, and companion fastening elements secured upon the interior face of the innerrnost underskirt along said common seam and said vertical lines in downwardly spaced relation to the lowermost position of the fastener elements so that the train of the skirt can optionally be drawn up and held in the form of a rearwardly projecting pout-bustle with the hem adjusted substantially evenly around its entire perimeter so that the apparent length of the skirt is the same both front and back and the appearance of a train is eliminated.

2. A ladys outer garment according to claim 1 in which the vertical lines, along which the outer skirt and underskirts are loosely secured together, are two in number and are spaced equidistantly on opposite sides of the common seam.

3. A ladys outer garment according to claim 1 in which the rear portion of thee outer skirt consists of a plurality of lengthwise extending panels stitched together along downwardly extending seam-lines, and each underskirt similarly consists of the same number of lengthwise extending panels stitched together along downwardly extending seam-lines, one seam-line of the outer skirt and each underskirt being coincident with and constituting a part of said common seam, the other seamlines of the outer skirt and underskirts respectively being arranged in aligned sets, each such set being coincident with one of said vertical lines along which the outer skirt and underskirts are loosely secured together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 823,534 Hutchinson June 19, 1906 1,039,871 Williams Oct. 1, 1912 1,049,062. Dubbs Dec. 31, 1912 2,466,806 Harrison Apr. 12, 1949 2,912,698 Greenblatt Nov. 17, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,275 Great Britain of 1904 4,714 Great Britain of 1909 901,041 Germany Jan. 7, 1954 

